A Bountiful ‘Harvest’ in the Last Ten Days

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The “harvest” of events over the past ten days has been remarkably abundant. It is not every week that the political equation in the United States, the “leader of the free world,”…

The “harvest” of events over the past ten days has been remarkably abundant. It is not every week that the political equation in the United States, the “leader of the free world,” is transformed, with legislative power shifting from the Republican right to the Democratic liberal camp, while the states of the “Deep South” complete the dramatic leap, altering political maps and loyalties that have endured for a century.

Nor is it every week that “the tables are turned” in Israel, a country long accustomed to the maneuvers, deceptions, and political blackmail of Benjamin Netanyahu, until opponents from across the political spectrum found common cause, at least temporarily, in opposing one of the era’s most formidable figures. It must be acknowledged that this individual reshaped the Jewish state in his own image and according to his personal interests.

Moreover, we are now living through the confusion of a fearful and bewildered world, caught between the “known unknown” and the “unknown known.” Technology has expanded beyond the limits of human comprehension, its restraints, safeguards, and algorithms slipping free. We find ourselves suspended between the open secrets held in the chambers of cyber giants and skies closed to transportation, commerce, diplomacy, and human interaction.

Meanwhile, politicians no longer seem more capable of grasping the consequences of decisions on war and peace than ordinary people are of understanding what is happening around them. Nor can they fully comprehend what might protect citizens, their families, and their livelihoods in the absence of a “safety net” that artificial intelligence has effectively begun to dismantle.

These days, we meet friends and acquaintances who ask about “predictions” concerning a war with Iran. They ask whether President Donald Trump has truly resolved to bring down the rule of the mullahs.

This comes amid a strange and ambiguous atmosphere in which no one knows exactly who the enemy is, what purpose is being…

Will…

مطلع المقال، مقتطف من Asharq Al-Awsat. لقراءة المقال كاملًا، افتحه على موقع الناشر.